Contents

Plot

Jessilina and Ursula have the Contest battle. Seviper starts with Haze and Yanmega with SonicBoom. Plusle and Minun combine their powers, using Spark to negate the attack. Yanmega lifts Seviper in air, while Minun and Plusle use Helping Hand to boost each other. Yanmega uses Silver Wind, which gets ion contact with Poison Tail and the missiles are launched to the duo. Plusle and Minun use Spark and negate another attack. Yanmega releases Seviper, but Plusle and Minun hit them both, making an amazing display of fireworks. Time is up and Ursula wins, as she lost less points.

Dawn is amazed by Ursula's combos, while Jessie is depressed. After some battles, Dawn's Cyndaquil and Mamoswine battle an opponent's Mightyena and Houndoom. Cyndaquil uses Flame Wheel and gets in contact with Ice Shard. However, the ice is melted away, but Cyndaquil manages to hit Houndoom and Mightyena. Time is up and Dawn wins, as her opponent lost more points. Before she has another battle, she attempts to master the Flame Ice combo, but fails. Brock advises Dawn to work on a different combo before something happens. Ursula heard this and goes away, pleased. As they progressed, Ursula and Dawn will have their final battle.

In the preparation room, Dawn and Ursula argue, as Ursula calls Dawn "Dee-Dee". Dawn calms herself down, ready to fight Ursula. Dawn sends Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, while Ursula her Plusle and Minun. Mamoswine starts with Ice Shard and Cyndaquil lits it to have a crimson glow. Mamoswine swallows Ice Shard to power itself up. Cyndaquil uses Swift, which circle around Mamoswine. With Cyndaquil on the top lighting itself, Mamoswine charges with Take Down, but Plusle and Minun jump to dodge. Plusle and Minun use Encore, causing Mamoswine and Cyndaquil to have a strange aura.

As Minun and Plusle are to attack, Dawn orders Mamoswine to use Hidden Power and Cyndaquil Flame Wheel. However, Mamoswine uses Take Down and Cyndaquil Swift; Encore's effect causes the Pokémon to use only the moves they used before it took effect. Plusle and Minun use Helping Hand to boost themselves and follow with Charge Beam, which hits Mamoswine and Cyndaquil. Plusle and Minun use Spark, which causes more damage to Dawn's Pokémon. Cyndaquil uses Swift and Mamoswine Take Down, but receive more damage from Ursula's Pokémon. With another Spark, Dawn, Cyndaquil and Mamoswine have their hair and fur glittered. Dawn is embarrassed, but with a call from Cyndaquil and Mamoswine, has an idea and fixes her hair.

She orders Mamoswine to use Take Down on Cyndaquil and Cyndaquil to use Swift on Mamoswine. As they have done this, Mamoswine and Cyndaquil's Encore effect wears off. While Ursula is also impressed, her Plusle and Minun use Charge Beam, but miss. Mamoswine uses Ice Shard on Cyndaquil, who uses Flame Wheel. The Flame Ice is mastered; as Plusle and Minun get hit. The duo uses Spark, but Cyndaquil uses SmokeScreen to cancel the attack. With Hidden Power and Swift, Plusle and Minun take more damage. Before Ursula's Pokémon attack, time is out. Despite the odds, Dawn made a comeback and won the battle.

Dawn admits she does not care anymore if called Dee-Dee. Ursula sees again that Dawn had time on her side, making her not very impressed. Dawn receive's her final ribbon. Ursula comes and tells Dawn she won't be lucky at the Grand Festival, though Jessilina enters the room and argues with Ursula. Ash and Brock congratulate on Dawn's victory. Dawn reminds Ash of Sunyshore City and Ash responds that the badge is waiting there for him.

Trivia

Professor Oak's Pokémon lecture: Unown

This episode marks the first time that the main Coordinator of the anime won her fifth Ribbon in a Contest that isn't the final Contest before the Grand Festival.

This episode marks the only appearance of a Togetic in the anime other than the one that belonged to Misty.

This episode is similar to Another One Gabites the Dust!, where:

Dawn, Ursula, and Jessie were the featured Coordinators.

Ursula beats Jessie prior to battling Dawn in the finals.

Dawn defeats Ursula just before time runs out.

Music from Pokémon Heroes, Destiny Deoxys, Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, and The Rise of Darkrai are played in this episode. By Your Side ~Hikari's Theme~ was also used as background music as the battle between Dawn and Ursula was about to end.

While Dawn is watching Ursula's battle against Jessilina, a male Coordinator next to her wears the same clothing that Giovanni is seen wearing prior to the Best Wishes series: an orange tuxedo and a light tan shirt under. The only difference is that the Coordinator is wearing a differently colored tie.

This episode is similar to A Cacturne for the Worse in that both episodes feature the main Coordinator's unfriendly rival taking advantage of a childhood story to embarrass her in the middle of a performance. Both stories earned the character her nickname, though May received hers from Harley as a result of the story, whereas Dawn had had hers since childhood.

Team Rocket doesn't blast off or recite their motto in this episode.

Errors

Togetic was hit by Shadow Ball despite being a Normal-type, an example of anime physics.

Mamoswine was hit by Spark and Charge Beam despite being a part Ground-type.

Marian says that "Flamethrower makes the Ice Shard glow with a striking crimson", though Dawn's Cyndaquil did not know Flamethrower at the time.

Cyndaquil's SmokeScreen appeared to cause damage when it should only lower the target's accuracy. This could be that because Plusle and Minun could not see each other their combination failed and they fell to the ground, therefore taking damage.